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Black Press Media takes home 66 B.C. Yukon Community Newspaper Association awards

Reporters, editors, photographers and ad designers picked up 66 awards
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Veteran Black Press Media publisher Don Kendall was honoured at the B.C. & Yukon Community Newspaper Association awards on Saturday night. (Dustin Godfrey/Penticton Western News)

Black Press Media newspapers took home 66 awards at the 2018 B.C. and Yukon Newspapers awards.

The Ma Murrays, which were held at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, celebrated the work of community journalists across the province for advertising, photography, writing in print and overall newspaper excellence. This year’s awards include a new category focussing on multimedia storytelling in the digital medium.

Dozens of editors and reporters were honoured with the Silver Quill award for more than 25 years in the industry and Black Press Media veteran Don Kendall received the Eric Dunning award for dedication and service to the community newspaper industry.

Black Press Media winners:

NEWSPAPER EXCELLENCE AWARD, CATEGORY A

Silver – Haida Gwaii Observer

Bronze – Clearwater Times

NEWSPAPER EXCELLENCE AWARD, CATEGORY B

Gold – Hope Standard

Silver – Revelstoke Review

Bronze – North Island Gazette

NEWSPAPER EXCELLENCE AWARD, CATEGORY C

Silver – Salmon Arm Observer

NEWSPAPER EXCELLENCE AWARD, CATEGORY E

Silver – Parksville/Qualicum Beach News

Bronze – Yukon News

NEWSPAPER EXCELLENCE AWARD, CATEGORY F

Gold – The Chilliwack Progress

Silver – Langley Times

Bronze – Penticton Western News

NEWSPAPER EXCELLENCE AWARD, CATEGORY G

Bronze – Vernon Morning Star

Photo awards:

FEATURE PHOTO AWARD, COLOUR OR BLACK & WHITE, UNDER 25,000

Gold – Yukon News, Joel Krahn - Bird Eclipse

Silver – Yukon News, Crystal Schick - Super Moon

Bronze – Yukon News, Mike Thomas - Have Canoe Will Travel

PHOTO ESSAY AWARD

Gold – Yukon News, Joel Krahn - Muskrat Jamboree

Bronze – Parksville/Qualicum Beach News, Peter McCully - Day in the Life of Parksville

PORTRAIT/PERSONALITY PHOTO AWARD

Bronze – Yukon News, Crystal Schick - African Music Festival

SPORTS PHOTO AWARD, UNDER 25,000

Gold – Yukon News, Crystal Schick - Butterfly Swimmer

Silver – Salmon Arm Observer, Lachlan Labere - Politician versus pugilist, a mayoral one-two

Bronze – Oak Bay News, Keri Coles - Flyin’ high

SPOT NEWS PHOTO AWARD, OVER 25,000

Gold – Abbotsford News, Vikki Hopes - Gang violence claims another life

Silver – The Chilliwack Progress, Paul Henderson - Overdose

SPOT NEWS PHOTO AWARD, UNDER 25,000

Gold – Terrace Standard, Quinn Bender - Train versus pedestrian

Silver – North Island Gazette, Tyson Whitney - Firefighter/house fire

Bronze - Revelstoke Review, Marissa Tiel – Standoff

Writing awards:

ARTS & CULTURE WRITING AWARD

Bronze – Campbell River Mirror, Mike Davies - Hope is such a precious commodity

COLUMNIST AWARD

Silver – Castlegar News, John White - Conversation with a moose / Bullying leaves deep scars behind

Bronze – Langley Times, Brenda Anderson - Taking Canada-US relations to the next level / Familiar name among the numbers

ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVE AWARD

Gold – Tofino-Ucluelet Westerly News, Andrew Bailey - Clayoquot Cleanup

Silver – Haida Gwaii Observer, Andrew Hudson - Deer Zero

ENVIRONMENTAL WRITING AWARD

Silver – Surrey Now-Leader, Tom Zytaruk - Trashed, a three-part series

Bronze – Yukon News, Lori Fox - Gwich’in prepare for another battle to stop drilling in caribou calving grounds

FEATURE ARTICLE AWARD, OVER 25,000

Gold – Nanaimo News Bulletin, Karl Yu - Nanaimo parent advocates for support

Silver – Nanaimo News Bulletin, Tamara Cunningham - Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district taking initial steps to reconciliation

FEATURE ARTICLE AWARD, UNDER 25,000

Silver – Burns Lake Lakes District News, Flavio Sachett Nienow - Wildlife traps concern dog owners

FEATURE SERIES AWARD

Silver – North Delta Reporter, Grace Kennedy - Making the Merge

Bronze – Cloverdale Reporter, Grace Kennedy - Life after the RCMP

JOHN COLLISON MEMORIAL AWARD FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM

Bronze – Langley Advance, Matthew Claxton - Murrayville House Discovery

SPORTS WRITING AWARD

Gold – The Chilliwack Progress, Eric Welsh - A soccer star’s tale of two worlds

Silver – Saanich News, Travis Paterson - Bullied player leaves Mount Doug, goes to B.C. final

MA MURRAY COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD

Gold – Kelowna Capital News, Karen Hill & Kevin Parnell - Get Involved

Silver – Langley Advance, Roxanne Hooper - Throwback Thursday… Way back!

Bronze – 100 Mile House Free Press, Evan Fentiman & Deb Theoret - Butt Out

SPECIAL SECTION AWARD, UNDER 25,000

Silver – Smithers Interior News, Grant Harris, Nick Briere & Laura Millsip - Mining Week 2017

Bronze – Oak Bay News, Christine van Reeuwyk, Janet Gairdner & Lyn Quan - Women in Business

Digital awards:

BREAKING NEWS VIDEO AWARD

Gold – Prince Rupert, The Northern View, Shannon Lough - A stand of defiance

Silver – Lake Country Calendar, Barry Gerding & Jen Zielinski - Lake Country couple devastated by fire

FEATURE VIDEO AWARD

Gold – Prince Rupert, The Northern View, Quinn Bender, Keili Bartlett, Shannon Lough & Todd Hamilton - Hammy the Deer

Bronze – Yukon News, Crystal Schick - The Nutcracker

MULTIMEDIA SERIES AWARD

Gold – Vancouver Island Free Daily, Ashley Wadhwani, Katya Slepian, Karly Blats, Arnold Lim - #MeToo at work

Silver – Williams Lake Tribune, Angie Mindus - Riske Creek ranchers go it alone in fight against dangerous wildfire

Bronze – Prince Rupert, The Northern View, Shannon Lough - Rebuilding the TSIMSHIAN LANGUAGE

SINGLE MULTIMEDIA BREAKING NEWS STORY

Gold – Penticton Western News, Staff - Search fails to turn up missing woman

Silver – Penticton Western News, Dustin Godfrey, Jen Zielinski & Staff - Firefighters battling fire on West Bench

Bronze – Saanich News, Travis Paterson - 11-year-old hit by car in Saanich

SINGLE MULTIMEDIA FEATURE STORY AWARD

Gold – Oak Bay News, Keri Coles - WWII veteran united with family of fallen soldier after decades-long search

Bronze – Goldstream News Gazette, Kendra Wong - What is it like to be part of the Canadian Armed Forces?

Advertising awards:

AD CAMPAIGN AWARD

Bronze – Mission City Record, Karen Murtagh - English Tarts

AD CAMPAIGN AWARD, COLLABORATIVE

Gold – Victoria News, Cara Robbins & Nick Waddington - Footloose Shoes

AD DESIGN AWARD, COLLABORATIVE, OVER 25,000

Bronze – Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News, Maryn Goms & Maggie Prince - Mark’s

AD DESIGN AWARD, COLLABORATIVE, UNDER 25,000

Bronze – Nelson Star, Sandy Leonard, Adam Mandseth & Marc-Andre Hamelin - Burger Week

AD DESIGN AWARD, OVER 25,000

Gold – Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News, Maryn Goms & Jackie Brittain - P&L Speedprint

Bronze – Goldstream News Gazette, Rebecca Wilde - Bucky’s Taphouse

AD DESIGN AWARD, UNDER 25,000

Silver – 100 Mile House Free Press, Evan Fentiman & Martina Dopf - Shop Local